Great Film overall

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

In the 1970s programmes based in Liverpool centred largely around the comedy The Liver Birds. But by the 1980s there was the groundbreaking series about unemployment The Boys from the Blackstuff, One Summer and the semi-social realist Brookside soap opera. Like previous reviewers I too watched this in my teenage years (I was 14 when it aired) and seeing this on DVD reminds me what an excellent series it was, albeit with some flaws. While One Summer doesn't dwell on the social inequalities in Liverpool at the time - under the Conservative government it was hit hard and was the only region to actually have a swing to Labour in a Tory landslide in the election of May that year (1983) - it does touch on working-class deprivation without delving into the complexities of the issue. Billy and Icky are two 15 year-olds about to leave school with no qualifications and little job prospects. Billy's home is a dysfunctional one and he is a petty thief being eyed up by the police. Both are part of a gang that get involved in various scraps, some with knives. The second-in-command of this group is Rabbit, played by Ian Hart (then called Ian Davies) who would become a nemesis for the pair. Leaving Liverpool on train in their school uniforms for north Wales, Billy and Icky become involved in a series of adventures in which they struggle to leave behind their social background and upbringing and attempt to blend in with a rural community. It also shows, somewhat uniquely for the time perhaps, two 15-year-olds doing exactly what boys of that age do, muck about and deal with teen angst. I've just watched all five 50-minute episodes of the series as well as the interviews with lead actors David Morrissey (Billy), Spencer Leigh (Icky) and Hart. Alas, James Hazeldine, who played the slightly hippy Kidder and director Gordon Flemyng had died by the time this section was filmed. Flemyng is described by Morrissey and Leigh as an amiable but tough Glaswegian who got the best out of the cast. It's also revealed, by producer Keith Richardson, that the casting procedure was a lengthy one, going round the area's drama schools and secondary schools. Neither Morrissey nor Leigh had any formal acting experience although Davies/Hart had appeared in Play For Today. It's an excellent exploration of youth but does contrive some unfortunate incidents the duo get involved in, has a grim ending and the romance between Billy and Jo is as lame as any Hollywood blockbuster can get. Those aside, I found this a fantastic series to watch, with the spectacles' rose tints thoroughly faded with age.

One Summer has to be one of thee best dramas i've ever seen. Back in 1983 (when i was 14) i was completely hooked to the storyline during the 6 week summer holidays and the transition period between middle school and high school. I've only just watched the series again on DVD and ooh... the memories came flooding back. The acting between the 3 main characters is still as convincing as ever, with Icky still doing a laughable, comedic performance despite 25 years that have passed.Back then.. i had a crush on Jo and seeing her again with her curvaceous figure (market scene and swim scene with Billy) still rekindled the feelings i had before i became 'one of the boys' ;), though i didn't know she was 10 years older than me, until now (not that it matters).The ending to the story is still as upsetting as ever, with Ickys death, Kidders beating and Billys arrest. Finally.. Alan Parkers theme song to the series well and truly compliments the atmosphere of the whole drama. I definitely recommend "One Summer" to anyone who hasn't seen it, though it may be 25 years old, it still holds the intensity that beats most dramas of this era.

I've just finished watching this on DVD for the first time since it was aired in 1983, when it had a huge impact on me as a twelve year old growing up in Thatcherite Britain. Certain parts of it I remembered clearly and certain parts I didn't, but I was amazed at how much this TV drama was ingrained on my psyche and yes, it's just as good as I remembered it.It tells the story of the adventures of two Liverpool lads, Billy and Icky, who steal some money and head off to Wales because one of them remembers having had a good time at a camp out there and how they are befriended and helped by a recluse called Kidder. All three of leads have dark pasts and the main theme of the story is how no matter how hard you try and how far you run, you can't escape your past.Excellent performances, haunting and memorable music and a heart-breaking story add up to a truly recommended 250 minutes.

One Summer was one of the best TV drama's I had the pleasure of watching. As a Young 1980's teenager lad myself, I felt empathy for the characters. Going to school, summer camp, peer problems, teenage angst. I had it, they had it. Their problems were mine. (albeit without their violent moments and the illiteracy). I saw the series twice in full. Once in 1983 when it first aired, then again the following year. Alas, I never saw it again, and since reaching adulthood, I have been trying to find it. Partly I think to relive my youth, but also to recapture the emotional feelings it left me with. The humour, sadness and the graphic images live with me to this day. Tattooed into my memory bank, never to be erased. Dramas of this calibre do not come along too often. Some come and go without a second thought. Not this one. This was wonderful in its writing and acting. Why it has never been shown again (to my knowledge), remains a mystery. This would be a repeat I'd watch again and again.